U.S. distributor, retailers recall Daniella mangoes

(UPDATED COVERAGE, 2:45 p.m.) Federal officials joined California and Washington state investigators as they work to find the source of a salmonella outbreak that has sickened 79 and may be linked to recalled mangoes.

Food and Drug Administration officials said they working on the "fast-moving outbreak," but California's health investigators are still leading the investigation.

"Once FDA became involved we began coordinating with the state of California, which is leading the investigation, to get up to speed on the progress of their investigation," said an FDA announcement. "Once we can examine the information the state has collected first hand, we can make decisions on our next steps."

A Burlingame, Calif., distributor is voluntarily recalling the Mexican mangoes. Canadian officials have linked the same brand of mangoes to 22 salmonella illnesses, 17 in British Columbia and five Alberta.

Anita Gore, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Public Health said the state has 73 cases of salmonella with the same strain that sickened Canadians. She said more than two-thirds of the sick Californians reported eating mangoes before becoming ill.

“We are working with the Food and Drug Administration and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency on the investigation,” Gore said Aug. 28.

Donn Moyer, a spokesman for the Washington Department of Health said six illnesses were documented in the state at the end of July as being from the same strain of salmonella that was detected in the Daniella mangoes.

"But we don't have a direct link yet," Moyer said. "We are still in the interview phase of the investigation."

Moyer said four of the six people in Washington were admitted to hospitals, but they are all home and have recovered.

Officials with the Centers for Disease control and Prevention did not immediately respond to calls.

Splendid Products general manager Larry Nienkerk said the company began notifying customers Aug. 26, asking them to pull all Daniella mangoes.

“We want to let everyone know our top priority is public safety,” Nienkerk said. “We have notified all of our customers ... and we are working with all the government agencies that are involved. We didn’t want to wait.”

The mangoes were available from July 12 to Aug. 24, according to Giant. The chain operates 173 stores in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia.

Stop & Shop Supermarket Co., Quincy, Mass., is also recalling the same brand of mangoes from Mexico. The chain has more than 400 stores throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, New York and New Jersey, according to its recall notice.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency first posted a recall of Mexican mangoes on Aug. 24, updating that to include only Daniella brand mangoes distributed by North American Produce Sales, Vancouver, British Columbia.

The CFIA said the fruit may have been distributed in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon. The CFIA notice did not include any other traceability information.

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Coral Beach, Staff Writer

Coral Beach joined The Packer newsroom in February 2011, bringing more than 30 years of experience at daily newspapers, trade magazines and online publications. Beach earned a bachelor’s of science degree from the University of Kansas School of Journalism in 1982.
e-mail: cbeach@thepacker.com
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